The Games You Play
by Spring's Rose
Summary: One high strung instructor. One cold hearted student. 3 months of teacherstudent counselling can make anyone go crazy... or fall in love. Quall.
1. Irritation

One high strung instructor. One cold hearted student. 3 months of teacher-student counselling can make anyone go crazy - or fall in love. Quall.

She was calm and had the cool demeanour everyone whished for - most of the time. Today was one of those odd exceptions. Quistis Trepe was one of those no-hair-out-of-place people that just happened to be an instructor every other day and a councillor in between. She was the not so lucky teacher to be nominated to do the student-teacher counselling for the troublesome students for three months every year.

She had probably faced every how-in-God's-name-did-they-even-get-into-this-school student there was, she handled them all with ease except for maybe one or two. You know, the kind you just want to smack the annoying smirk off their faces. The file seemed to mirror the glare she gave it, only twice as threatening. Files couldn't possibly glare, but anything associated with Squall Leonheart probably could break the rule easily.

Even the name seemed icy. He was most likely the only student that could unnerve her, or make her feel like ice was creeping up the walls behind her - with only his eyes at that. Her eyes followed the folder up to the person who gave it to her.

"You must be joking." She stated calmly, it must be a joke, right? This student was beyond help. It seemed his mission in life was to make at least 12 students drop out of whatever class they had with him a day. "This is the student that made at least half of Balamb's supply teachers quit. You can't possibly expect me to council him. His vocabulary consists of: whatever, insults and answers to impossible question even the higher level students can't do!" The blonde exclaimed.

The headmaster of Balamb gardens, Cid, gave her a reassuring smile, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Edea assigned him to you, she thinks you can do it and so do I." He said calmly.

What an evil man. He knew she wouldn't say no to the woman who raised her. Evil, a truly evil man. "At least with Seifer he showed emotions, sure, he was incredibly annoying but he had emotions! Squall, he's like a robot. Please, I don't care if you make me council Seifer again, just don't make me take him..." She had never begged in her entire life, and apparently wasn't very good at it because he dismissed any thoughts of assigning her to another student.

The young instructor honestly felt like screaming when she saw the older man retreat to his office and shut the door, which was code for: don't even think about arguing. She clenched her fists and calmly walked towards her room.

She wasn't surprised to see a couple of wailing girls coming from Squall's dorm area, rolling her eyes she walked over to his dorm and gave the door a sharp knock. No response. He was ignoring her. She knocked again, louder this time. Amusingly, she thought, she could annoy him all night until he came out.

Her amusement was short-lived when the stone faced boy swung open the door nearly taking out a chunk of the wall behind it. "I came to inform you that the headmaster has set up counselling for us. I expect you to meet me every other day at 4 o'clock sharp." She said in her instructor's voice.

The teenager adjusted his black t-shirt before turning to her. "Whatever." He said coldly, as he reached out a black leather clad hand to start shutting the door.

She stopped him. "Oh, and Squall, I expect you to apologize to Rinoa and her friend tomorrow morning." She held back her smirk as he rolled his eyes, and slammed the door shut, letting the sound ring down the hallway of the dorms.

The instructor walked gracefully down the hallways all the while a shadow of a smile played upon her lips. She swung the door open and sat down on her desk to mark the papers she had ignored the night before.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

She was a grown woman. She had gotten into the academy at 15, became an instructor at 17. She could handle this - after all, it was just a student. A really, really cold one; but a student none the less. She was a teacher, she was superior to him, she shouldn't have anything to worry about. Key word: shouldn't. However, this boy could unnerve anyone. ANYONE.

She looked up at the clock and was suddenly aware it was close to the time when the students left for their dorms. "Alright class, finish those papers and hand them into tomorrow. If they're not done, you won't be able to apply for an entrance exam for SeeD." The blonde announced.

She walked over to her desk to go through some papers while the students shuffled out of the room as fast as they could, most likely heading for the cafeteria. Squall was cold, heartless even - but he was obedient. He waited patiently, for the rest of the cadets to file out before sitting down and looking over the forms.

She glided over the door and shut it softly, ignoring the Trepies trying to spy through as she put a piece of paper in the glass area before sitting down in front of him. "Have you finished the forms?"

He didn't even bother to look up. "Yes, everyone else was just being slow. They don't have a chance at being a member of SeeD." He stated calmly.

Even though she knew only one or two of them would probably graduate, she still frowned. "With an attitude like that, you don't have a chance either." She replied coolly. "However, Cid didn't assign me to you to have me insult you. I won't make you talk, but trust me, it will be a very long session if we spend it in silence."

The boy ignored her. "......" He studied the classroom with eyes like an owl. Maybe even an owl would be envious of the storm grey eyes, complementing his name of Squall, a small storm. Maybe not so small, he could be hurricane of ice and trouble if he desired so.

"I would have expected an icy remark from you by now, is something wrong? Did you not reach the usual mark of making five girls cry today?" She asked, trying to get him to say something.

He kept ignoring her, before turning back to her. For some reason, she felt her breath hitch in her throat as his eyes seemed to pierce her soul. "No actually. I beat my last record of six." He said, his voice laced with ice that seemed to come from the coldest mountains of Trabia.

Silence. If she could have any power in the world at the moment, she would she could time travel three months into the future when she wouldn't have to do this. It was the first 15 minutes of an hour session and she knew she had had enough. She decided to ignore the last comment and pursue trying to make him talk about anything but insults.

"Since I've only taught you about GFs and magic I was wondering, what weapon do you use?" Quistis asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Gunblade." He replied, no room in his voice for argument or question. She had a sinking feeling he wouldn't get past 5 sentences in anything more than an insult or retort.

"You?" The question caught her off guard. He had actually spoken without being asked to...? Even for her, it was a hard concept to swallow.

She paused a moment to make sure she wasn't hearing anything that wasn't actually there. "A whip." The blonde replied, silence once again. Slowly the clock's hands creaked by, slowly, but it was moving.

"If you're done with forms, can I take them?" She asked suddenly remembering he had mentioned he had finished them. He didn't reply but took out two neatly folded papers and handed them to her.

She unfolded them and scanned them quickly before folding them again and placing it on her desk. "Alright. Thank you. Oh yes, did you remember to junction Shiva?"

"Yes." One whopping syllable. She could tell this would be a very long three months. He turned to the wall and studied it carefully while she went back to her paperwork. It more like detention rather than a counselling session. Fine, he could be that way, she thought stubbornly. If he wouldn't talk, she's just do her paper work, it would save time later. Silence, she wanted to scream just to hear a sound. The sound of the clock's ticking hand was going to drive her crazy. She resumed the paperwork letting it distract her mind from the boy who refused to make a sound and the ever annoying clock.

The time creped by until only 5 minutes were left, she thanked her lucky stars; she had been counting down the minutes since the first 20 minutes of class, hopefully not noticeably. Most of the paperwork was finished, in a giant heap on the right side of her oak desk.

"Are you ready for your exam on Thursday? I'll be your escort to the Fire Cavern so don't un-junction Shiva before you go." She reminded him, knowing he wouldn't forget. The teenager had a mind like a steel trap.

"Whatever." They said in unison. Squall turned to her evidently annoyed, his grey eyes locked in her blue ones, all she could do was stifle a laugh - or at least try to hide it behind a slim hand clad in black leather.

"What?" He asked coldly, not amused what so ever.

"Nothing. I'm just beginning to understand my student a little, that's all." She replied innocently, the bell rang but he didn't leave.

He walked closer to her, even intimidating her. Her breath caught in her throat once again as he brought his hand up to her face and stroked it gently before running his thumb across her lower lip, parting her lips slightly. He leaned in close and just barely letting his lips brush hers for about a split second before moving his lips to her ear. It wasn't her first kiss, but it caught her off guard. "You nothing about me." He whispered coldly, leaving the room and a very stunned, not to mention flushed instructor in his wake. Oh how he loved to tease her... and deep down, a part of her liked it.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Whew. First chapter's up. Hope you enjoyed it. Um, please don't flame this is my first attempt at one of those Squall's still a student and she's the instructor fic. OH yeah, this first chapter is dedicated to Elvi-Rose! A very loyal reviewer who gave me the courage to write it! Go you!


	2. Hairclips

Thanks for the reviews! As usual I did okay on the first chapter and then I screw up the second one. Ack, Squall's really OOC in this one. I suck. Don't mind me.

Cailin Skylark: Thanks... That really means a lot. By the way... when are you going to update you're fic? I've been waiting for a while for an update, please?

Elvi-Rose: Hi! Thank you!

Hotaru170: Thanks!

GothicAngelEyeS: I'll try update as often as I can. By the way, I reviewed your stories, it's very good.

The Britches: Heh, kind of a funny thought isn't it?

Lil-battousai girl: Oh well, thanks for reviewing the other story anyways.

Eveeee90: Thanks.

JJMP: Thank you!

She had plenty of options. File a sexual harassment order, pretend it never happened - or gloat like the teenager she was supposed to be and never acted on it again. None of them seemed to float her boat. All she really knew was that she had never in a million year expected THAT. She wasn't sure what she was more mad about, the fact he could turn her into a love sick idiot in half a second flat or the fact she liked it.

It would have better if there was at least a day's gap in between when she saw him. First she taught him, then she counselled him, there was no time in between to get her thoughts gathered. She knew from the start it was a bad idea, but now it was just plain humiliating. The instructor gathered her things and walked towards her class room.

Her skirt swayed as she stepped through the automatic door, obviously catching the attention of the 'Trepies' squad. She ignored their lecherous gazes, and sat down at her desk opening the day planner. The bell rang and in skidded Zell just a split second before making it..

"Oh, yeah! I made it!" He cheered, rushing to side.

There was something about that kid that could just amuse anyone... well, almost anyone judging by Squall's look of utter disgust at the blonde boy, probably just relaying all the ways he was superior to the younger boy in his head.

After attendance was sorted out, the class had to go down training area to practice reflects and protects against the monsters there. She heard students pointing at each other and asking each other something. Opps, she had a feeling she had forgotten something. Partners.

"Before you get settled, I'm picking the partners." Groans of dismay told her she wasn't the most popular teacher anymore. Quistis went through the list pairing everywhere one up. A hand waving in the air caught her attention.

"Instructor, you didn't pair me up with anyone." Zell called. She looked at the list and then up at the other person that didn't have partner. The same thing crossed through Squall's and Quistis' head: You've got to be kidding me.

"Squall, Zell, you're partners." She mentally winced. This could get ugly. Zell was happy go lucky and could get along with anyone - Squall, was the exact opposite. He eyed the other boy, mentally down-sizing him in his mind, however being the rule follower person he was, he didn't argue.

"Be careful, if you have any trouble call me!" She said to the students before they departed. The instructor walked around making sure everything was alright when a student came rushing to her, looking somewhat distraught.

"What's wrong? Is everything okay, Sarah?" She asked the girl.

"That boy, Squall, I think - he's fighting a T-Rexuar by himself!" She exclaimed frantically. She didn't even want to know what happened to Zell, but rushed off anyways following the girls directions through the green area nearly tripping on the small wooden bridge.

As much as she wanted to strangle him when she was the sight of poor Zell passed out cold and him battling a T-Rexuar (like the girl said) all alone, she realized she'd have to help him before she could kill him. She resisted the urge to scream in frustration as she unfurled her whip and snapped to the ground scaring the large crowd of students in the area. It was good thing she carried it around when ever they went to the training center.

(I'm not really good at fight scenes so bear with me) The whip lashed out and grabbed the giant monster around the leg and yanked it as hard as she could bringing it to the ground with a loud rumble. That wasn't going to stop it though, that was just a minor set back for the giant dinosaur. The boy ran forward taking the T-Rexuar head on distracting it while Quistis struggled to move Zell away from the battle.

"Haste." She called casting it on her student, before summoning her Shiva as Squall cast protect on both of them. At least he gets a good mark on the protect part of the assignment she thought dryly as Shiva brought the monster to it's death. Once she was sure it was dead, she brought herself to the boy.

"What were you doing?! Why didn't you try a phoenix down on Zell?" She yelled, the boy shrugged.

"He would slow me down." He answered coldly, getting up and whipping his Gunblade on the grass.

"4:00, you've got detention with me and then a meeting with the headmaster. That's AFTER you take Zell to the infirmary and explain to Kadowaki what happened." She said in an icy voice matching his own, if she couldn't severely hurt him, maybe the nurse could.

"You just want to 'teach' Squall personally don't you!" Seifer howled, implying a lot more the book teaching.

"You too, Seifer." She said dryly, watching as the boy ignored her once again, and picked up the younger boy throwing him over his shoulder as he departed for the infirmary. What an ignorant little ..... She clenched her fist in anger, "Class dismissed."

She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the boy to appear. 3:58. He had exactly 2 minutes to get there before she personally searched the school for him, and threw him out of the school herself. She hoped Zell was alright, he was probably awake by now. A few minutes ago she had gotten a note from another instructor saying Seifer already had detention with him. She wasn't surprised.

3.59 He was a goner if he wasn't here in a minute, she would make sure of that. She heard foot steps, that had better be him she thought. She looked up. Nope, it wasn't him. 4:00 Okay, he's a dead man.

She walked into his classroom flinging open the door angrily, muttering numerous threats and nearly jumped a foot in the air. There he was, calm with unlimited composure, waiting for her. She on the other hand, was still trying to her heart back to it's normal pace. "How did you get in here?"

"It was open." He replied dryly, as if it was as obvious as daylight. She suddenly felt stupid, but ignored the foreign feeling and sat down.

"That was incredibly stupid what you did. You and Zell could have gotten killed just because you were too stubborn to let him help you! You are such a..." She trailed off at a loss of words (nice ones anyways).

He moved closer to her, letting his hand trace her cheek. "Such a what?" His hand trailed from her cheek to the back of head.

She struggled to ignore the her heart beating faster again. She wouldn't let him push her around. "...An ignorant, cheeky little-" He moved forward, too quickly for her to comprehend in the short span of time that he had done it; letting his lips graze her cheek. She froze, how could he annoy her so much and yet make her breath and heart stop whenever he even looked at her never mind touch her.

She didn't even notice when his hand moved to the back of her head, removing the hair clip letting her hair tumble down. "You were saying?" He whispered pulling back, her hair clip still in his clutch. She opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it.

He loved seeing her so worked up, with all those hairs out of place, and her flushed appearance. It truly was amusing to him, her on the other hand... she was not a happy camper. It was the second day and she felt like killing him just so she wouldn't have go through this anymore.

"Y-You can leave early... the headmaster wants to see you." She said, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt.

"Hn." Was all he said, before he left. She was still trying to calm herself when she fleetingly remembered he still had her clip. She was definitely not a happy camper.

Not that her hair ever looked bad, or that a single strand was ever out of place (god forbid, it would be) but, she was still self-conscious. Her hair was very, very rarely down in public, rarely meaning elusive, and elusive meaning... well almost never.. and that meaning, she couldn't even remember the last time it was down.

She tried in vain to ignore the stares and/or the double-takes as she walked through the hallways towards her classroom. It was times like these she wished she was invisible. She walked into the classroom and she knew all eyes were on her.

"Before we start, please stop looking at me like that. Yes, I have my hair down, it's not the end of the world. Now WHY I have my hair down is a different matter, we seem to have a thief in the class." She narrowed her eyes at the student she counselled, who ignored it and seemed quite interested with the window.

Everyone except for maybe one or two of the students pointed at the Trepies. "Hey for once it wasn't us! We only took the last two hairclips and a... shirt, maybe?" The leader protested, crossing his arms. Oh, so THAT'S what happened to them, she thought they got lost in laundry - apparently not. That's solves that mystery... now about those missing combat boots....

"Enough with that, today I'm teaching you stop spells. The first one that used it on another student without my permission gets det- SEIFER!" This was going to be a long day, she though dryly putting a hand to her head. A very long day.


	3. No?

Ack, I don't really like this chapter. Bleh, noting really eventful happens, you could probably just skip it all together, this chapter Squall's a major ass. Heh, you all knew that was coming eventually right? Okay, I'll shut up and respond to the reviews.

Lil-Battousai Girl: Lol, thank you. Seifer cast stop on a student. I usually keep my hair up, it's really thick and annoying, I'll cut it after I go to Anime North, I'm going as Quistis, my friends are going as Selphie and Rinoa. Lol, we'll have the whole gang there if we bully my other friend into going as Squall.

Neko-Yuff16: Heh, I know. IN the beginning of the game when Quistis tells Squall to check the panel thingy if you click the forum thingy all the Trepies are talking about how hot Quistis is and how much they love her. O.o

Elvi-Rose: Well, wouldn't you get flustered if Squall kissed you? I think I'd pass out, and yes, poor Zell ever body bashes the poor baby.

Hotaru170: I know, I pity her too. Oh, yes she'll get her revenge... but that's the next chapter.

Eveeee90: Thanks.

AngelD: Thank you!

She honestly missed her hairclip. It was somewhat comforting.... Pathetic. She was pathetic she thought dryly. The day hadn't started out too well, with all the oh-my-god-is-that-actually-the-teacher? looks, Seifer casting stop on a student, a certain student smirking to himself... and it was only 10:00 o'clock in the morning... She felt a headache coming on.

"Alright, cast 'stop' now." She instructed the student. Maybe she forgot to say 'aim' because the spell went the opposite way, bouncing off the far wall, the ceiling and then went for a person who had equipped 'auto-reflect' and then finally hitting some poor unfortunate person in the back who fell to the floor with a thud.

"....Will I get a bad mark for that?" The student asked, she sighed.

"I'll have to think about it.... can you take whomever you hit to the infirmary and pick up a remedy for them, please?" That was, what, the 27th person now? Half of the class was out of commission. They departed quickly, yes... definitely a headache.

"Next... Seifer." She was dreading this, the instructor knew well all on he could hit a target over 6 meters away - the thing was he didn't want to. To him it was probably much funnier to hit an un-expecting person in the front.

Yep. Much more fun, she though dryly, as a person dropped right in front of her eyes flat, sprawled out on their front. "Infirmary and detention if no one else needs you." The blonde said flatly, waving the grinning boy off - and he wondered WHY he was failing her class.

"Next -" The bell cut her off. "The rest who haven't gone can either go now or go tomorrow." That was always a sure-fire way to get lunch alone, she thought with a smirk. She looked around the empty class room. Correction: ALMOST empty classroom. Ack, why had she even offered that option?

"Alright, Squall; go ahead - just wait until I'm behind you." She said grabbing her marking sheet and walking behind him. The exercise was to hit the moving clock in the corner of the large room. If it stopped ticking you would get a perfect score, if you hit a peer... well, that was asking for a big '0'.

She probably could have given him the perfect score without even watching him, he may be arrogant teenage, but he was smart, arrogant teenager. He cast the spell perfectly, she couldn't see a flaw if she tried (which she did), the clock stopped once the spell had hit it.

"Good job." The blonde muttered, now to get to her tempting lunch... but, before that - "Squall... my hair clip?" She asked almost hopefully.

He ignored her until he got to the door of the classroom, before turning to her. "Depends." Was all he said with a small smirk, before leaving for the cafeteria.

"Depends? Depends on what?" She asked to an empty room, one hand flying up to her long hair.

Tap. Tap. Tap. That was going to get on her nerves. Tap. Tap. Tap. He was driving her crazy in more ways that one. Mentally, physically and... had she mentioned mentally? She looked down at the black leather boot that was tapping on the floor then up at the person who was doing that. She cursed the fact the fact and any bodily harm to her student from herself would get her fired.

"Tell me about yourself." She said clearly. Great. Now she sounded like a shrink.

He turned his head to face her. Again. Again, he made her breathe catch. Maybe it was those damn irresistible cobalt eyes. Damn those eyes. That was never a good sign, a teacher was attracted to her student was never a good sign. Well, maybe not attracted.... She felt her face get hot. Fine. Attracted. She cleared her throat, trying to find something else to look at.

"I'm 17... I train in the train center every night." She just about fell off her seat. Was that actually ... 2 sentences? Wow. Maybe they were getting somewhere.... "You?"

"W-what?'' She asked confused.

"What about you?" He repeated as if she was mentally challenged or something.

"What- I... uh..." Could she sound even stupider, she thought dryly. "What... do you want to know?"

"Anything. Amuse me." The little -- !! What did he think she was, a toy to amuse him?!

"Amuse you?! This is a counselling session not a strip bar to catch your interest!" She growled.

"Point taken." He said, leaning back in his chair.

"You never answered me." She said, crossing her arms, still avoiding his eyes.

"About?" He asked, his voice icy.

"My hair clip." She replied, flatly. "You said it depends; you never said what it depends on."

"When I feel like it." He replied simply, a small smirk playing across his face.

"When you feel like it?" She repeated, disbelievingly. "Can't you just give it back and humour me?" She felt like she was reasoning with a three year old... that could make her knees go weak by just looking at her....

"No."

She sighed. "It that a no meaning that I'm going to have to ask the custodian to open your room and go look for it myself no?"

"No."

"No." She repeated distastefully. "Then what kind of no is it?"

"The play your cards right and I'll consider it no." He said.

"What? Look, I'm the one who has authority here!" The blonde said frustrated.

5 more minutes left. He quickly got up, and pulled her up as well before he leaned forward, catching her off guard. Her eyes widened as he looked her square in the eyes before leaning before as if he was going to kiss and then pulled back.

Instead, he ran his fingers through her hair, he leaned forward again tracing her jaw line with his lips leading up to her ear. "You may have authority, but I'm the one who has control." He whispered.

Oh, he was sooo dead. So incredibly dead. Six-feet under dead... right after he gave her hairclip back, she watched his retreating form. Yes, he was a goner right after she got her hairclip back.

Mainly because I'm bored, here's a little thing for the next chapter:

Quistis gets her revenge - Squall gets a kitten?! And what about those water spells, white shirts and photo play-by-plays?! April fools looks tame compared to this! O.o


	4. Pranks

Oh, thank you to all the reviewers, you guys seriously make my day! I'm all excited from the nice reviews so I'm updating quickly! See, that's what you get for being nice and reviewing!

Cailin Skylark: Thank you, I'm trying not to rush (I have a tendency to... ) I changed the chapter after I read your review, you're right; it's only fair that Quistis gets to have some fun. Heh, yup, she'll get her payback (more than once..)

Lil-Battousai Girl: Hi! Yeah, isn't Squall a hottie? My friend and I have little fights over him (ie. He's mine - no, he's mine... pathetic, I know)

GothicAngelEyeS: Hi! I reviewed your fic, it's coming along well. Oh on your live journal; is it alright if I add you as one of my friends on my live journal? I did already, but if you don't want me to, I'll un-add my self.

Neko-Yuff16: I think I'd go crazy if I had a boyfriend like Squall... but, yes, they are amusing aren't they?

Diddly Day: Um, wow. I read your review and I was like 'Whoa, they reviewed my fic -- !! Your story is awesome, please update soon, I'm waiting for the next chapter! Heh, if you don't update soon I might put my story on hold until you update yours (I'm evil I know, but I need you update, you left us on a cliff-hanger!!) Oh just a little suggestion, really, you don't have to use it or anything, but in your fic, I think Quistis should get pregnant. Probably a stupid idea, I know, but it's just a thought from a loyal fan, oh and PLEASE keep it a Quall, don't make it a Squinoa or a Quifer there's so many of those and not enough Quall fics out there. Okay, anyways, now that I'm rambled on and you probably think I'm some obsessed freak, I'll shut up. By the way, thanks so much for the review, it really means a lot.

The weekend. Oh thank God. It was the first weekend since Cid had hired her to council him. Free... free for two days. It may not seem like a lot, but it gave her time to gather her thoughts... and hopefully get her hairclip back. Man, that bugged her she still didn't have it back. She'd probably end up being dragged out by Xu to get a new one... but she was somewhat attached to the last one. Oh god, she was pathetic... attached to an inanimate object. Oh well. maybe she could pick up some new combat boots while she was at it.

The clock beeped, she rolled over in her dark dorm and squinted at the bright, glowing letters. 12:00. The weekend officially began now... and so did her revenge. She grinned, and made sure the alarm was set before going back to sleep, a furry object curled up on her back, contently sleeping...

It was 5:00am, and there was knocking at his door. Who the hell gets up at 5:00am in the morning?! Squall thought grouchily, getting up and waddling over to the door. He flung it open, nearly unhinging it in the process. All he could was glare a the unwelcome visitor.

A kitten. A freakin' baby cat. He was up way too early for this. Not only a kitten, a pair of leather clad boots were there also. What the-? He followed his line of gaze up to who they belonged to. It was WAY too early for anything that involved his instructor.

"What is this THING doing here?" He asked rubbing his eyes, too early to put on his the-tone-of-my-voice-puts-ice-to-shame voice.

"It's a present." The instructor said cheerfully. "It's to help you lighten up a bit. Cid suggested you have a pet since there's only one person in your dorm." She turned to mischievously grin at him. "If you ever get lonely." She said, holding back a laugh at his priceless expression.

"You must be joking." He said dryly, looking at the petite animal.

"Nope. Besides, it's cute." She said, knowing the whole I'm-incredibly-cheerful-like-Rinoa attitude would tick him off even more.

"Cute?" He spit out the word like it was poison. She glared at him. "Maybe... if I was drunk, and was looking at it on a good angle."

"Here," She picked up the little tabby and put it in his arms. Both the kitten and him squirmed, "What? You've never held an animal before?" His expression was an evident 'no'. "Gently. You're not holding a rock." She reached over and moved his hand to it's back. "There."

She picked up the bag of kibble and placed it on the floor in his room, sneaking a glance at her student, who was looking at the kitten like it was an UFO or something - the kitten on the other hand, was content purring it's little brains out. The blonde smiled. "See? It likes you. What are you going to call it?"

He looked at the kitten and then at her. "Raine." Wow, she had been expecting something like 'Griever' (AN: Hah! Okay, I'll shut up now) She turned around and for a second there she thought she was him look at Raine with affection.

She scanned his room quickly. Ah ha. There it was. Making sure Squall was distracted, she snuck over to his bedside table, and snatched her hair clip. Squall: 0, Quistis: 2, and it wasn't even 6:00am yet.

"Hey, you'll take good care of it, right?" Okay, fine, so he maybe incredibly anti-social... but secretly, he had a soft spot for animals. Not that anyone knew, or anything.

He nodded. "Yeah." She watched at he helped the kitten up onto his bed, before crawling onto it himself.

She walked over to him, soundlessly. "Sleep." She cast softly, he was out like a light. Now for the fun part, rigging his room. She picked the kitten up carefully. "You'll stay with me for a few minutes, okay?" The kitten nodded, as she slipped it into her sweater pocket.

Half an hour later, the room was rigged with water spells, honey and feathers. She stayed over near her spot, before casting 'esuna' on him. He bolted up, "What the- hey, what are you still doing in here?" He asked approaching her. Big mistake. First it was honey, then feathers. In seconds, he was literally a walking human chicken.

She quickly took out her digital camera and snapped a few pictures before putting Raine down and fleeing the room. She did however, hear a long string of curses that echoed the hallways long after she had closed the door... and they say teachers have no sense of humour.

Several hours later, there was knocking at her door. She glared at the door, looking at the alarm clock. 1:00am, it was the weekend she could do whatever she wanted, she had planned sleeping until around 5:00pm the next day, but oh well. She got out of bed and went over to the door. Who was up at 1:00 am?! Ack... it had better not be a Trepie she thought darkly.

Quistis opened the door. "Squall?" She squinted. That was her mistake, she realized seconds before it was too late. The teenager grinned at her. Oh crap.

"Water." She was soaked to the bone, it was then she realized she had a white shirt on. That had been deliberant, she thought sourly. Damn, she knew forgot something. She had left the water spells in his room... she was practically asking for it.

A flash went off. A camera flash. Damn. Could this get any worse? Not only was he teasing her, she was in a white shirt looking like a drowned rat AND he took a few pictures of her... and all she could do was glare.

She watched as he turned to go, before rushing inside her room and grabbing her camera. Oh no, he wasn't getting away that easily. "Water." She muttered softly.

A giant waterfall appeared above him soaking him too. He turned around to her with a look of disbelief on his face. There wasn't anyone in the hallways to see the soaked pair in the hallways, to her luck.

"You look like a drowned rat." She said pointing at his black fur coat, resisting the urge to laugh. Well, for a drowned rat he sure could glare well.

"You're not looking too hot either." He grumbled, pushing some hair out of his eyes. Even if his plan back fired... he still had the pictures; he thought smirking, what... what was she smirking at?

She still had the pictures, she thought with a smirk. Hey... what was he smirking at? Maybe the fact you've got a white shirt on still, her inner mind nagged. "Ah!" She squeaked, suddenly remembering to cover her chest with her arms, blushing; watching him go while planning another prank to make up for his last one.

He turned back to her suddenly, pulling her towards him as he kissed her neck and then her cheek teasingly before parting. Another flash. She had a feeling she was sitting there looking incredibly stupid and blushing while he took it. "We're even." He stated.

"Not quite." She muttered, grabbing his hand.

He turned around, surprised. "Wha-" She cut him off; placing a hand on either side of his face, bringing her lips to his... and she thought she was a blubbering mess when someone kissed her, she thought he's pass out on the spot from the shock of it all.

He stiffened, as she pressed herself against him, deepening the kiss by slanting her mouth over his. (AN: Jeez, getting a bit lemony, better end it off here..)

After about few minutes (AN: I honestly don't know how long someone can kiss another for, someone try it and let me know Lol) She pulled away, watching his still stunned expression. The blonde smirked, reaching up and kissing his neck up to his ear. "Who's in control now, Squall?" She panted, the hot air lingering longer than her, when she turned an retreated to her dorm. Once in side, she laughed herself to sleep at his expression.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful, she had finished her paperwork, rejected three Trepies (the poor, unfortunate perverts) and went back to sleep. Monday. The weekend was over just as quick as it started.

She walked content to her classroom, with her new-found hairclip. A few Trepies groaned at her hair being back and a couple of girls told her it looked better down but she insisted it got in her way while working.

The blonde opened her planner, and couldn't help but smile. There a picture of her soaked in the hallway, with the deer-in-the-headlights look, he must have slipped in while... how DID he sneak it? She asked herself thinking about all the possibilities. She smirked, that was okay, because she waiting to see how he would react when he saw his locker...

Squall was starting to regret the fact he had ever cast water on his mischievous-but-you-wouldn't-know-it teacher. Plastered all over the inside of his locker was a picture play by play of the honey-feather encounter he had recently. .... He really did look like a walking human chicken, he thought dryly. He slammed the locker shut and walked to his next class, all the while trying to get his mind off a certain instructor....

Erm, yeah. Hope you liked this chapter...? Goes and hides from the Squinoa fans


	5. Elevators

Hi! Next chapter, I know it's been done to death, but Squall and Quistis get stuck in an elevator. Enjoy Squall's really OOC here (but then again, then isn't he always in my stories??)

The Britches: Yup, yup perverts. ::Takes kitten:: Aw... I have a soft spot for animals.

Hotaru170: Heh, thank you!

Yami, Tea's Advocate: Thank you, that's a huge compliment.

AngelD: I try not to read FF.N at school, because my friend always pokes me and says how Seifer is better for Squall, rather than Quistis. 

Lil-Battousai Girl: I have a manga pic of him from kingdom heats on my agenda...

Frost: Hi! Thanks.

Neko-Yuff16: Thanks!

Kyria Valkyrie: ::Glomps back:: Thanks!

- From the 3rd Chapter -

Shadowed-Moon2525: I'm sorry I disappointed you with Squall's character, and yes, he is acting more like Seifer than his original character, NO, you're not babbling like an idiot (that's my job) You have a good point, I do portray Squall's character badly. Thanks for correcting me.

"I don't want you to go." A voice said... it sounded masculine.

...Go? Where would she go? Was she leaving and no one told her about it? 

The person moved forward, kissing her gently.

What? Hey, what's this guys doing?! .... I think I know this person... Flowers... why are there flowers everywhere all of a sudden... and an ocean. It seems familiar somehow.... Have I been here before? The person pulled away slowly.

"Open your eyes, Quisty." The voice echoed in her head. She opened her eyes and bolted up.

"Stupid dream." She muttered, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

He still couldn't believe she did that. He hadn't expected that in a million years. He looked towards the kitten beside him. It purred affectionately at him while he petted it.  
" I guess that's payback, huh?" He muttered to himself, the kitten nodded.

She stretched, before settling down in front of him... she was still trying to get that stupid weekend out of her head. The boy sat there, content to just watch the window while she marked her papers. She was perfectly content in silence while she graded, if he wouldn't talk, it was a good opportunity to finish paper work.... However, the silence was rather annoying; she paused and put down her pen for a moment.

"Are you going to talk today, or is it going to be silence for the next half an hour?" She asked dryly. Was he still mad at her or something?

Silence. Time for a new topic, she thought. "How's Raine?" That would get him talking... hopefully.

"Good." Silence. What ever progress they had made obviously died. Died a long, painful death. At least before when he teased her it was more than one syllable.

It was like time had stopped, the minute hand would creak by ever so slowly. ".... Are you mad at me?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Whatever."

"Yes or no would suffice." She replied flatly.

"No."

"You're quieter than usual." He's always this quiet... you're just extremely bored, her mind nagged.

He ignored her. She wondered if he'd notice if she cast haste on the clock to make it seem like the session was over... He'd probably notice.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Oh god, not that again, she thought. Tap. Tap. Tap. He probably knew it was annoying her and that's why he was doing it.

"Hey, Squall; stop that, it's annoying." She muttered, continuing to mark her papers. Tap. Tap. Tap. Argh, that was REALLY annoying. She sat down in her chair before placing her foot on his to stop the annoying sound.

Finally... it was like years had passed by before the bell finally ran, and for once, she was determined to be the first one out of the classroom. The blonde grabbed her paperwork, she was tired and wanted to go to bed now that most of it was done.

As she walked out of the room, she half expected him to grab her and kiss her just to make her nervous or love sick. Nothing. He got up and left... but not after her. He followed her to the elevator, as she repeatedly hit the button.

He waited with all the patience she lacked at the moment, she wanted to go, get out of the hallway and scream. Really, really loudly, then go to bed. She hoped these were just signs of a bad PMSing case.

"What's taking so long?" The instructor muttered, whacking the button harder. Her heart stopped for a moment as she felt a hand cover her own and move it away from the abused button.

"Relax." Squall said, releasing her hand before leaning against the rail. She glared at the button, evidently frustrated. Finally, a ding was heard and the elevator surfaced.

"...Finally" She grumbled, stepping inside before him; she hit 'level one' as the door closed behind them. With a lurch that made her stomach seem to hit her ribs, the elevator descended - and then stopped.

"What the..." This was NOT what she needed. What she did need was a pound of chocolate and a nice warm bed, however, neither of them where remotely close. "Why did it stop?" She asked stupidly.

Squall shrugged, "Maybe it's just being slow." They both knew that was far from the truth. They were stuck. Why... why couldn't she be stuck with someone other then him?!

It probably wouldn't work, but she pulled out her cell phone and tried dialling the school. The only thing she got was a area not in service, please try again . She groaned, slumping against the wall. Hopefully, the repair people would come soon.

"It looks like we'll be here a while.... want to get anything off your chest?" She joked, trying to lighten up the situation. He ignored it like usual, she didn't think he'd reply anyway.

She glanced at her watch, it was 4:13pm, god only knows when they'd get out. There was no use just sitting there and doing nothing, might as well catch some sleep. She settled down against the corner of the elevator and tried in vain to fall asleep. No suck luck, having cold metal pressed against the back of your body wasn't exactly a good way to lull yourself to sleep.

"...How long do you think it will take them to figure out we're stuck in here?" She mumbled to herself.

Squall shrugged. "Hopefully not much longer than a day." A day?! She didn't think she'd last an HOUR. Damn elevator. She tried to fall asleep; maybe if she was lucky, someone would poke her awake if the repair men came. IF they came.

She switched positions, trying the three different corners before settling with the one she had been in to begin with. The blonde shifted, putting her up her arm to act as a pillow for her head. Argh, that didn't help either. She must have sat there for at least an hour trying to get comfortable under his amused gaze, before he finally did something. He got up and walked over to her, and sat beside her.

"You can put your head on my shoulder." He muttered, crossing his arms.

She smiled... maybe there was hope after all; she leaned over to him absent-mindedly burying her head in the fur collar of his jacket. "....Thanks." About 6 hours later, the repair men found two people contently curled up in the corner of the broken elevator; with the male's arm protectively draped across her shoulder, they had some how ended on the floor.

"Think we should wake them up?" The one worked asked, scratching his head.

"Nah. They look comfy." The other replied, placing a "DO NOT DISTURB, HAZARDOUS WORK IN PLACE" sign on the elevator. "It opens from the inside so no one will walk in."

Only 83 more days left until they were done... maybe she was starting to fear that they'd eventually have to part..... 82 days, and counting.

Shitty chapter, I know. I feel bad, I DO portray Squall really OOC; he really wouldn't act the way I write him to. ::Whimpers:: I suck.


	6. Dancing

Alright-y. Chapter 6 is up - the SeeD dance! (You don't have to worry about the Rinoa/Squall-it's-just-way-too-sappy-dance-cut-scene-makes-you-want-to-barf-cut-scene-but-god-dammit-it's-just-SO-cool-desipite-the-fact-it's-Squinnoa-scence! ::takes a breath::.) Yeah, I'll start writing and shut up now.

Lil-Battousai Girl: I'm glad I brightened up your day!

Neko-Yuff16: Thanks.

GothicAngelsEyeS: Heh.

Hotaru170: Thanks.

AngelD: Opps, sorry.

Why was he required to go to these - intolerable things - again? Not only was it the fact that they were extremely boring and useless, there was also the fact that many, many girls asked him to it, he refused them all. (AN: except for me... just joking)

The bright side was, there was free wine, that was okay. He smirked slightly to himself as he watched his arch rival Seifer being dragged, no, wait.... HE was bringing a girl on to the dance floor! Squall just about dropped his drink in surprise, and squinted, yes, there Seifer was with that girl, Fuujin? Definitely hadn't been expecting THAT.

Well, that had been amusing for while watching Seifer struggling to dance, but it wasn't too amusing now the blonde was actually getting good at it. Squall turned his attention to the mass crowd, he thought if he was a SeeD he'd get off the hook of those counselling sessions. Apparently not.

A mass of students caught his attention, he walked over trying not to make it look like he was some what curious. Trepies. It hit him, they were all Trepies. Ack. As he turned for his cued leave... he saw her.

Wearing dark red, strapless gown he couldn't have missed her if he tried. He watched as the Trepies finally departed after being rejected 7 times each.

She smiled and was thanking students for the compliments as the students left when she felt a hand grab her wrist. She turned around slowly, as he tugged her to the dance floor saying nothing. Words really weren't needed, anyways, as he took her in his arms and they danced. A little notice would have been nice, mind you, but she was content in his arms... She hadn't even needed to ask him either.

As much as he hated to admit it to himself... he was started to get attached. Just a tiny bit, it was only a week after all, but attached none the less. Damn, this would probably get embarrassing on his behalf soon.

The song ended and they parted reluctantly. "Thanks for the dance." She said softly, her hands still lingering on his shoulders; slowly she removed them and left.

[o] [o] [o]

The next day came too fast. The ballroom was still being cleaned after the previous night's events. The classroom stirred with talks of who danced with who, who got rejected and other things related to the dance.

She looked at the clock, 8:56am. Class started in exactly 4 minutes. Her eyes surveyed the class room with great care. Everyone was there today. Wow.

She folder her hands. "Alright, today we're working on status spells, i.e.. haste and regen." Her clear instructor's voice kicked in like always when she was announcing anything. It was an good start to the day... or so she thought.

[o] [o] [o]

She STILL didn't want this job, first it was his insults driving her crazy, and now it was his silence that did the trick. "I reviewed you magic test," She said, breaking the silence. He didn't bother to look away from the window. "You got 99%. You missed question 54, it was curse spell not a zombie one." 

"Hn." He was ... an odd one. Someone who captured her interest without trying, a rare ability indeed.

"Aren't you going to say anything more than 'hn'?" She asked faintly annoyed. Silence. "I guess not." She muttered flatly, reaching for her paperwork. She got more paper work done than when she had been with any other student.

"Why do you care?'' He asked suddenly, catching her off guard.

"Why... do I care?" She asked confused. "You're my student, and I'm your teacher I'm supposed to worry and care. That's my job."

"Because you have to..." He muttered.

"What, no, I didn't mean it like that. Even if I wasn't an instructor, I'd still care for my students, I'd still look out for them whether I had to not." She explained. Silence. That was very common feature when she had started teaching/counselling him.

A sharp knock came from the door and in strode a tall blonde. "Instructor.... puberty boy." He greeted.

"You're late Seifer, you were suppose to be here 15 minutes ago." Quistis said, turning to him. "This is the forth time. You've got detention on Monday."

"I knew couldn't keep your hands off me." He said grinning, plopping down next to Squall. She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"I've got business to attend to." Seifer stated, leaning back in his chair.

"You mean detention?" She asked flatly.

"No. I just happened to see my favourite Instructor and a certain puberty boy dancing last night. I also happen to know that Squally-chicken here happened to see me and Fuujin dancing."

Quistis held back a laugh. Seifer.. dancing? "I assure you, it was only friendly." She said calmly.

"Whatever." Seifer mimicked Squall. "Anyways, your information doesn't leave this room if mine doesn't."

Squall stayed blissfully quiet. "I don't know what the big fuss if someone learns you went to a dance and actually danced." Quistis said.

"Instructor, if people know I dance at dances... I might just get an Alsamies club to rival your Trepies one."

"You do realise you've got a huge ego there." The blonde said flatly.

"Only as big as your-"

"Seifer, at this rate Squall will know of a certain person's fear of Moogles. AKA. You." Squall stared at the taller boy questionably.

"You're scared... of Moogles?" He asked icily, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up puberty boy." He snapped.

"Well since you're both getting along so well, " She started sarcastically, "I'm going to get some more work sheets for you Seifer. I'll only be gone a minute." She got up and left.

"Moogles...?"

"SHUT UP!"

[o] [o] [o]

She got back to find either boy on either side of the room glaring at each other. If looks could kill, they'd both be six feet under. Slowly she placed the sheets on the desk, "Seifer, come get your work sheets." He did, grumbling something incoherent before going back to place by the wall.

It was silence except for the noises from the pens. It seemed like forever before the bell FINALLY rang. Seifer was out the door before she could yell at him, a blur of yellow and white. "Sorry about that. He's a scheduled detention with me for a while I kept on having to put back. Today was the only day I could fit it in." She explained, walking out of the classroom heading toward the stairs.

He said nothing, and continued down the stairs, trying to ignore her. They tended to stay away from elevators now a days.

[o] [o] [o]

Meh. This chapter sucks. I know counsellors, shrinks, doctors ect, have to take an oath of confidentiality but oh well, it brightened up the chapter a bit.


	7. Field Trips

Okay, my excuse for this chapter is: a) I'm brain dead b) writer's bock c) School starts d) In my major, art, I have TWO art teachers, which means double the assignments and work. Okay, I'm done. Please don't flame because it sucks. I'M SENSITIVE. Oh, and thanks to my beta-reader, Lil-Battousai Girl, who reads them, and corrects them for me, and STILL reviews. Okay, I'm done now. Really.

Lil-Battousai Girl: It was a pretty boring chapter Quall wise. Sorry.

AngelD: Lol, it's so much fun to poke fun at Seifer.

Frost: Thank you!

Hotaru170: Heh.

Dark-Shade-Soul: Thank you!

Yami, Tea's Advocate: Thanks.

Neko-Yuff16: I'm not so sure about more Quall moments coming soon, I guess you could... but it's kinda one sided at the moment... Ack, I'm confusing myself.

Lakyan: Well, I had the other chapter written, but being the idiot I am, I deleted it by mistake.

JJMP: Yup, it will be getting interesting....

He was tapping his foot again. That annoyed her beyond belief, and he knew it too. Head ache. She was getting a headache... a major headache. "You're not going to be talking any time soon, are you?"

"........" He stayed quiet.

"Didn't think so." She muttered, getting her paper work, and then sitting down once more.

"............." Who ever said silence was golden must have been insane.... That's it. She was breaking, she thought she could change him, maybe even just the smallest fraction, she wasn't expecting a whole personality revolution or anything but....

They both watched the clock. 5 more minutes. She brought her gaze back to her work, and finished marking the essays. 2 more minutes. 2 more minutes until she was free, she chided herself. She sounded like a student that was just too eager to get out of class.

Well not quite free. She didn't even know WHY she was looking forward to getting out of the classroom. At 4:30, her and Xu were taking around 30 students to Balamb train station and then they were off Dollet for Timber for the weekend. Normally, she would have minded. NORMALLY. However, this was an exception. She had a headache, was PMSing and having to be cramped in a hotel beside the students dorm usually meant she had to go in there and check on them every other hour.

A few unpleasant previous experiences of walking into a students dorm had included, adult magazines, fireworks, prank calls, and then the all time I-can't-believe-you-did-THAT one was when she had found a chicobo in the room. How it had got there was beyond her. She still hadn't had that one figured out.

She wasn't quite sure what she was more concerned over, Irvine the garden lady-killer next to the girl's hotel room OR Squall, Seifer and Zell sharing a room. Both sounded like asking for chaos.

"You're packed right? If you forgot anything you'll have to live with out for the weekend because we're not going back until Sunday night."

Why did she bother? He hadn't forgotten anything yet. By the look on his face, it looked like he agreed too. There was supposed to be another male teacher with them to supervise the boys, but had dropped out at the last minute, it was too late cancel, they had to make due. That was twice now he had ditched them. She was starting to think is was deliberate.

The bell rang. "Go get your things, we meet at the front gate at 4:30, be ready or else we'll leave without you." She instructed, getting up.

o o o

After taking attendance, they were crammed on a bus. Buses were meant to fit 20, not 32, she thought dryly, shoved against the window. Xu wasn't much better off - she was struggling to stay on the seat because Selphie was crammed between the two. Also, she added mentally, bus seats were meant for two and not three.

The subway wasn't better. To make sure none of the students didn't get off at another stop, they were all in the same area. Some students were sitting, while others were standing. She was glad teachers got priority seating. Suckers.

Four hours later, around 9:00pm, they reached Timber. Wearily, the blonde left up to next to her friend to go through the rules. Too much sitting, she thought. After making sure everyone got a room, and having to listen to alternate arrangements for another hour she was finally allowed to retire to her room. Not to her surprise, Irvine was the only one not to complain.

"Should we check on them yet?" Quistis asked, stretching on the couch.

"Nah. Wait for them to get settled in, the hotel manger comes, or we hear screams." Xu said, flipping through the various channels.

"Wow, you're real professional." She said sarcastically to her friend who in turn shrugged.

A scream was heard. "Now?" Quistis asked getting up.

"Yeah." Xu said already out the door.

"It sounded like Selphie...."

They both paused. "Irvine." They said in unison.

"He's probably just being a peeping tom, but we should look anyways, before the hotel kicks us

out for having kids screaming everywhere." Xu decided, making her way to the girl's area.

This did surprise her. Irvine was being the knight in shining armour, rescuing the damsel in distress (i.e. Selphie) from the dangerous dragon... err, mouse. She squinted, yep, it was a mouse alright. She didn't know if Selphie was more scared of the mouse, or the mouse was more scared of her... It looked like a tie.

"Okay, calm down. It's just a mouse. I'll call the room service." Quistis said, turning to go get the phone.

"Instructor, wait!" A Trepie called.

"Yes?" She asked, perplexed.

"Let me exterminate it!" He said, grabbing the mouse.

"Wait, you shouldn't pick it up..." It bit him. He flailed around, screaming that the mouse bit him.

"IT BIT ME!!" He screamed, waving around. "AHHH! IT'S SWELLING UP!!"

Xu sighed. "C'mon." She grabbed the student. "I'm going to have to take him to the hospital, he could catch rabies." She winked at Quistis, dragging the boy down the hallway (AN: You can't get rabies from mice, you get them from bigger animals like foxes and dogs)

"Whiskers! I finally found you!" A random student called, gently picking up the mouse.

"That's your PET?" Asked Selphie, "It was in my dress pocket!!" She said loudly pointing to her pocket.

Migraine. She was getting a migraine. "All right, it's all right now. Go to bed, and Zack, what have we told you about bringing pets around?" Quistis chided. The boy shrugged. "Irvine, back to your room. Irvine - !!" She had to go over and drag the tall boy from Selphie, who whined in protest.

She knocked sharply at the door, Squall opened it lazily. He looked at her questionably.

"Oh, Instructor, you've come to pick me up! However, I have many fan girls out there that will be quite disappointed if I take up your offer -"

"Seifer..!" She said with a dangerously low tone of voice, pushing Irvine into the room.

o o o

The next day concluded of MORE long tours around the city, having to go into a pub to get Irvine and Seifer out of a bar fight. How they even got into the bar without I.D surprised her, they must have sneaked off when the director of Timber Maniacs began his life story to them. All she knew was they were going to be suspended for at least a week. A pub... it hurt her brain even thinking about it.

The students were leaving tomorrow for the Garden. She was frankly, glad. She didn't want to lose anymore sleep than necessary by having to go over to the boy's area to check if Seifer or Irvine had snuck out to the pub downstairs.

o o o

2 am. The karaoke machine in the girls dorm next to them was at full blast. Man, some off those girls were really off key. Xu was fast asleep on the other bed. Lucky bugger.

She could fall asleep ANYWHERE. No, really. She remembered they were in a teacher's conference with really uncomfortable seats. They were in a middle of a talk when they heard snoring. Xu had fallen asleep. She was surprised that her friend even still had her job.

Groaning, she was tempted to wake her friend up to share her misery with her - nah, she'd probably just fall asleep again. Opening the door, she walked to the hallway to make sure none of the students were up in the wrong dorms.

She sleepily went over to knock on the girl's dorm. Rinoa opened the door.

"Hi! We were just...uh..." She stammered thinking of an excuse.

"Turning it off?" The blonde supplied dryly.

"Yes! Yes we were!" Rinoa said shutting the door. A few minutes later silence filled the hallway.

"Finally..." She mumbled, going back to her room. It was 2am and the hallway lights were off, she ran right into someone.

"Oww." She muttered, feeling around to get herself up. Her hand hit jeans. Uh oh. She pulled it away quickly.

"Sorry." Quistis got up, she heard the other person get up as well.

"..........." The next thing she knew, the person was kissing her. Shocked, she didn't quite know what do. Her mind was in overdrive, she didn't know whether it was a rapist, a deranged Trepie or an extremely drunk Xu. .... If she had to pick any of them, she'd probably go for a really drunk Xu.

Finally, she pulled away abruptly, ready to smack the person. "Get away from me before I call security!" (AN: Do they have security in hotels? Probably, right? Okay, whatever, just pretend they do.)

"Instructor." Her eyes narrowed. She really should have been expecting that - who else had the guts to kiss her in the middle of a dark hallway around 2am in the morning?

"Squall... wait." She couldn't tell in the dark, but she was pretty sure he turned around. "Look, you can't keep doing this..." She trailed off.

"..... Give me a reason." He said simply.

"This is stupid. We don't even have a relationship, you just waltz around kissing me all the time. It's frankly unnerving, besides you should be going out with Rinoa or something. I'm your instructor, I'm not girlfriend material."

"I disagree." He said moving towards her again, moving his hand up to her face caressing her cheek. Slowly, he kissed her again. She pulled away.

"....This is just a game to you, admit it. I'm just some fun past time, aren't I? I don't have time for your games. I've got a job, to teach and council you, and that's what I'll do. Nothing more, nothing less."

"...You were the one who kissed me." He said icily.

She looked away, blushing. "I..." Slowly she caught his eyes.

"You were also playing. You had your own game." He accused sharply. "Don't tell me to stop when you don't want me to."

"I don't have time for this. I'm going to bed. Good night." He reached out and grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him, slanting his lips over her. Maybe she was half asleep, maybe he was just really good kisser. Either way, she didn't pull away. He eventually took the initiative to.

"... This is my game." He whispered in her ear, intertwining their fingers.

"So I am just a game to amuse yourself with..." She narrowed her eyes, smiling somewhat bitterly. "I think it's time you find a new toy. I quit. I'm resigning as your counsellor." All he could do was watch as she left.


	8. Training Centers

Um, yeah I don't like this chapter much. Oh well. Everyone's OOC... like usual. Like always, please don't flame.

Neko-Yuff16: Thanks, yup, gotta love the Quall moments.

Lil-Battousai Girl: You deserve it! Oh, sorry I didn't email this chapter to you. I kinda rushed it and just posted it up... The next one will go to you, I promise!

AngelD: Heh.

Hotaru170: ::Edges away from computer:: Just joking. Thanks.

Elvi-Rose: Hi! I'm glad someone agrees with me! Thanks for your encouragement!

Benjem: Thanks.

Shizuma the Dark Angel Demon: Hey! Don't put yourself down so easily! You write well, keep trying!

Eveeee90: Heh. Enthusiastic huh?

JJMP: Not just yet he won't but he will... I think.

o o o

"Headmaster, I've told you already. I'm resigning from the counselling session." Quistis said folding her hands.

"Remind me why again?" The older man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Squall... Squall doesn't even care. He could be the last person on Earth and not miss anyone. It's hopeless, he doesn't listen in class, but I'm forced to give him 90's because he aces all his tests. Please, just assign me to another student. Please." She begged.

He shook his head. "Don't give up just yet, maybe he's not being challenged enough." (I don't think him kissing me had anything to do with being challenged, Cid.) She thought dryly.

"I know it's frustrating, but please, don't give up yet. Almost all of the students you've counselled have been successful. I know we've sealed off the Training Center for the time being, but I'd like you to go there today for your counselling session, I know it may sound awkward but I think the others students unnerve him and that why he doesn't act to his full potential."

(Oh yeah... that's going to really help, being alone with him will just make it more amusing for him... but... I promised Edea I would. Damn promise.) "Alright, but if he causes me anymore trouble-"

"I will assign you to another student, but please, Quistis just try before you give up on him. I'm sure somewhere in there, he does care." (...If you say so, but I'm still not happy about this.) Time would only tell.

o o o

The bell rang loudly, signalling the end of the day... for most people. "Squall, I'd like to see you after class." She flattened her eyes, as Seifer let out a laugh and an inappropriate comments about weapon teachings. She had given up on giving him detention a wile given the fact, he always had detention with other teachers despite his title of discipline committee.

He said nothing, like usual, but stayed while the other students left. Seifer was the last to leave, and smirked to himself all the while. "Sit down." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "Despite my..." She paused, "Plans... the headmaster insists that there is hope for you yet." (I don't know what he sees but...)

Squall was silent. "I'm not going to let you walk all over me. I'm the Instructor, you're the student. Let's get that straight." She wished authority made you immune to anyone in a lower class. If only. He was still quiet, she knew though, he was just counting the seconds until that rule broke.

"The headmaster also said we are to go to the training center, for the counselling session. Since you weren't informed, we'll meet in an hour there. Don't be late." (Like he'd ever late, he may be cocky and annoying.. but he's never late.)

o o o

Squall walked into the darkened hallway, nearly walking into the wall in the process. It was extremely dark, how was anyone even supposed to see where they were going? He reached out his hand to feel for the wall, instead it hit fabric... and he was pretty what area of the body he was touching when he was shoved roughly against the wall.

"There had better be a good excuse for that!" He winced. Not his day. At all. What so ever, and being stuck with a pissed off instructor he had accidentally just groped for the next hour was not his idea of a good time.

He said nothing, he hadn't meant to, but Squall being Squall, decided no apology was needed and continued on. Carefully, he reached out again aiming for the wall. No such luck. Fabric. Again.

"Squall..." Her voice sounded dangerously low. It WAS an accident.... He would stick to just walking into things rather than being smacked by his teacher, he decided.

Finally, they were out in the light. He nearly did a double take. All he knew was that she was definitely NOT wearing her instructor's outfit. It had been replaced by the peach battle outfit. (AN: You all know what it looks like so I'm not going to describe it... that and I'm just too lazy. Is it peach even? I think it's pink but my friend says it's peach. What's your verdict? ::Gets smacked by the readers:: Okay, fine, back to the story)

She must have noticed he was staring at her... more like gawking but that's beside the point. "If we were to run into any monsters, I wouldn't have been able to fight in my uniform so I changed."

(And you'd be able to fight in THAT? ....Is that even under school regulation?) Squall thought dryly, but said nothing.

"Where do you want to go?" She asked, looking around for any grats or T-Rexuars. He shrugged, not really caring where but starting walking any ways.

She followed him, occasionally taking out a few stray grats along the way with his help. He stopped when they neared an area with rocks and little board walk. She inwardly cursed to herself. Any where but there...

He walked towards the entrance. "There's really nothing in there-" He had already left. Damn. Either he ignored her or wasn't paying attention in the first place. Probably the second one.

Hesitantly, she walked in after him. She had been here a few timed before, but only on summer vacation when all the students were away. There had been the one bad experience when she had walked in on some students doing things ..... that were against regulation to say the least. She shuddered in disgust just thinking about it, from then on, she only visited when the students were away.

The view was beautiful. "Pretty view, isn't it?" He nodded in response. "Have you been here before?" He shook his head, she walked over to the railing, leaning against it next to him. "Want to talk? You've got half an hour to talk to your heart's content." She announced. (Not like he would or anything.)

Silence and the occasional cricket chirps. "You're not very talkative." She remarked quietly. "Is there anyone you talk to? I mean, an actually conversation not consisting of witty remarks or insults?"

Silence. ".... You really should get into the habit of talking more often. It's good to talk sometimes, to tell people what you think... express yourself." He starred at her with a priceless look of confusion on his face. (Does she think I have a medical problem or something that makes me unable to talk or something? I CAN talk, I just choose not to.) He debated whether to tell her or not. Tell her, and have her want to engage in more conversation, or not tell her and have her look up and go through all his medical records and then bug him about why he DIDN'T tell her about it. He'd just stay quiet...for now, anyways.

"..... Like I said before, I won't make you talk, but it will be awfully boring if you don't." She reminded him.

"Nice view." He muttered.

Silence. "What?" She asked confused. He stayed quiet.

"Did you just say it was a nice view....?" He nodded, he saw her smile faintly. "I agree." (There I said something. Stop bugging me now.) Silence resumed again.

"I'm not something to amuse yourself with. I certainly hope you don't think I'm someone whom you can walk all over, because I'm not. I've told you this once and you didn't seem to be listening so I'll tell you again. I'm your instructor, I'm not one of your fan girls. I will not jump off a bridge to please you." She remained calm the whole time, while he stayed quiet.

The blonde turned to him, "I hope that changes your opinion of what you can and can't do, Squall." Crickets chirping; he slowly turned to her.

"I think we're done for today, if you're not going to say anything." She turned to leave. Hesitantly he reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Squall --" He leaned forward, kissing her gently. Not in a manipulative way, or teasing. He pulled away slowly, before walking to the edge of the secret. "...Sorry." He left, just as she turned around, surprised. He vaguely wondered if it was still a game anymore.


	9. Forms

Erm, yeah. It's getting serious, I didn't want to get so serious just yet but oh well. It couldn't stay a comedy forever. (Or could it... just joking) Anyways, I'm not too sure about this chapter , so be nice. By the way, I remember in my Blue Magic story we were talking about Quistis look-a-likes and I just so happened to be in China town the other day and I saw the 'I wish you were here' set, and wow. Who ever said that was right. Spitting image. Okay I'm done rambling. Really.

Benjem: Sorry, it took me so long to update, I'll try to get the next chapter up faster.

Lil-Battousai Girl: That's probably true, but it's always fun to see Squall so flustered.

Frost: Thanks, that means a lot to me.

JJMP: Nope, he can't avoid her. Heh.

GothicAngelEyeS: Lol. (spazes too) Don't worry, I'm single too. Pocky...

East: Sorry! I really will and try and update more often ,I've just been so busy.

Eveeee90: Thanks! She'll eventually figure it out ::coughseenextchaptercough::

Neko-Yuff16: Yup, gotta love them.

Stupid photo-copying machine. Seriously, what photo-copying machine dies the period before class? Scratch that. If they had a good photo-copying machine it'd probably work. Keyword: if.

She groaned, stupid forms. That meant she have to go to the other teachers and ask them. It's not the fact she'd probably end up walking half way around the garden, it was more the fact it was down right embarrassing. She should have gotten the forms before, but forgot... and missed the deadline. Teachers weren't supposed to miss deadlines.

Her first idea was Xu. Conveniently, she had already handed them out, as the rest of the staff had, except for maybe two or three. The secretaries, were off duty for the week so they wouldn't have been able to get anymore forms. This wasn't her day. Not at all.

This was her last hope, she stopped at the weapon's room. Hesitantly, she stepped in. "Excuse me, Allen?" The weapon's teacher waved slightly, she mentally smacked herself for intruding. He was in the middle of a demonstration, the students watching him closely.

"Ah, you're just the person I was looking for." He said, gesturing for her to come over. When ever someone said that it was never a good sign. Shyly, she came over, putting her papers on the desk. "I need a helper."

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea. See, I just came to get some papers-" She said nervously, trying to get out of the classroom. She taught magic, did demonstrations - not weapons. She was perfectly fine battling, and duelling, but wasn't too fond of doing it in front of crowds.

"Oh. c'mon. Besides, I need a whip-user to help. None of my students use a whip." Damn.

"Sorry, I don't have my whip here. Besides, I'm using up your time, I'll come back later to get the papers." Hah. If she didn't have her whip here, she wouldn't have to help.

"I just happen to have chain whip here." Dammit, why did he think of all the things? She couldn't get out of it if she tried.

"All right, fine. What do I have to do?" She asked, annoyed.

"Just block my attacks. It's easy. I'm demonstrating how not get caught by a whip-users attack. All right, let's go." The weapons teacher brought a Gunblade. She went over and grabbed the whip.

He started first, charging forward. She side-stepped him, bring her whip around, she brought his Gunblade up to block it. Keeping his eyes on her, "See? If you can bring your weapon up to block it, you're home free. But, don't turn your back on them. They can get you even when you are paying attention."

The whip cracked near his foot, making him move. He brought his Gunblade up blocking a few more of her attacks. "All right, thank you Ms. Trepe." He bowed to her, "The papers are on my desk."

She sighed. That was a lot to go through just for some damn papers. Walking over, she grabbed the papers and prepared to leave. "Ah, wait a minute please, I forgot something. I was wondering if you'd do another demonstration.. with my top student." She froze, she had a feeling this would come up eventually.

"I'm sorry, but I've really got to go get my class prepared..." She said, hoping it would sink into the other instructor's brain.

"Just for a minute, please. I know you were going easy on me. If the students could see how a real battle would go, they'd get a good idea of strategy. Besides, I do believe you owe me for those papers." He grinned, and she refrained from marching up to him and smacking him across the face. He was a good teacher, his class had a very high average... but he had a huge ego.

"Alright." She muttered. It would have been so much easier if she had just gotten the papers the day she had supposed to. She clenched her fist as Squall stood up and approached her.

Nooo, it couldn't' have just been another top student, could it? They all had it in for her, didn't they? She thought dryly. Grabbing the whip again, she pursed her lips and put her weight on her right foot. They didn't even need a count down, they were at it before any one could even blink.

He moved forward quickly. He didn't want to hurt her; but he couldn't exactly let his reputation of the best fighter or the ice king hit the road either. With much ease, she brought her whip forward, he blocked with his eyes closed.

She vaguely heard the Trepies whispering excitedly to each other. He lashed forward, she ducked just narrowly missing her bangs being trimmed. She acted un-teacher like and glared at him childishly. Neither noticed the bell had rang long ago and everyone had left.

The blonde moved behind him, hoping to get him from behind. No such luck, he whipped around barely catching her attack. She rolled her eyes, he matched her attacks, they were equal. This was getting tiring. He moved forward ducking, this was her opportunity, she brought her whip around his leg and pulled. Unfortunately, there was a little thing called gravity she fleeting forgot.

He realized what was going to happen and hastily dropped his Gunblade so he didn't accidentally impale them both. They both fell to the ground, him on top of her. "Well isn't this a compromising position." He muttered.

He tried to get up, but he couldn't. "Move your whip."

"I can't." She muttered.

"What?" He asked disbelieving.

"I can't move. You're on my arm." She explained.

"Well, I can't move because YOU decided to trip me." He growled.

"I had to prepare my class, I didn't have time to go battle with you. I thought if I just tripped you it would end... but it backfired." Quistis mumbled.

".....Whatever."

"You can't even move your arm a bit?" She asked hopefully.

"...No."

"Anything?" She asked annoyed.

"No."

"You're a big help." She fired back sarcastically.

"....Neither are you." Silence.

She looked up. "Where did everyone go...?" She panicked, "How long have we been here...?"

He shifted to read the clock. "Long enough."

"This is .... very uncomfortable. You're not exactly light." She said softly.

"You're not exactly a pillow." He retorted. She glared and at him and he glared at her.

Then, the door opened. They both turned to the door, with priceless expressions. A very surprised Xu stood in the door way. "I uh, didn't know you were into younger men, Quistis." She muttered, smirking.

"This isn't what it looks like!" They both protested simultaneously. Xu continued smirking.

"Stop smirking and untangle me, Xu!" Quistis said, tying to shake Squall off her.

"Okay, okay. Hold your horses." The brunette said, taking out a camera and taking a few pictures.

"Xu!"

She shrugged. "Makes up for the time I brought the Trepie back from the bar when I had the bad hanger over last month. Basically, if you don't say anything, I don't say anything." Squall twitched. Too much information.

She shoved the camera back in her pocket and proceeded to untangle them. "Finally." Quistis breathed, getting up. "Thanks." Xu nodded, waving.

"Look, I'll just tell Cid you weren't feeling well, okay?" They both nodded, still flustered. "Oh, hey wait a sec. Here are your papers." She gave her friend the papers. Quistis looked at the papers in disbelief. She had went through all that when Xu had the papers... Xu left, laughing.

She sighed, bringing a hand to her head. "Let's refrain... from mentioning this again. Ever." Squall said nothing and stepped out of the room leaving Quistis in an empty room.

He didn't know why... but he really needed a breather. Maybe the rolls were being switched - maybe she was the player and he was being played. ... He wasn't sure anymore.

Bleh. I know. it's been a while since I updated, and it's crappy chapter, but I'll make it up to you! The next chapter will be fluffy (Um.. or at least I'm planning it to be). Thanks again to Lil-Battousai Girl!! You rule!!


	10. Colds

Hopefully a fluffy chapter! Oh, oh, this chapter is a !surprise! chapter for my beta, just a thank you so that's why I didn't send it to you Lil-Battousai Girl! hopefully I didn't make ::too:: many mistakes.

Lil-Battousai Girl: Thank you!

Eveeee90: Aww, but I still think it wasn't very good.

JJMP: Gotta love Xu.. but no XU cameos in this chap. Purely Quall waffy moments!

GothicAngelsEyeS: Meh, I ramble too, so we're even!

AngelD: Umm.. thanks?

Shizuma the Black Angel Demon: Hi neko-Buya!

Neko-Yuff16: Yup!

She really shouldn't have gotten up this morning. Really, she shouldn't have. Conveniently, the flu was going around, as it did every year at this time. It started with a headache. She was fine with that. Headaches came and went, they weren't pleasant, but they came and went. Or so she thought.

Headaches were the first of it. Then the room would spin. Slightly for the half day, the other half a bit more... and now, conveniently, in the counselling session, the room was literally flying. Argh, her head hurt.

It was only an hour. If she survived all her classes, she could survive an hour... or so she thought.

Squall stared at her, tilting his head curiously. She wasn't looking... so good. However, Squall being Squall... wasn't going to go ::ask:: her if she was okay. Concerned: yes. Telling her she wasn't looking to good: definite no. He wasn't crazy, after all.

"So... tell me about your day." She said, steadying herself on the desk. Stupid whirly scenery. She still hadn't worn out the shrink tone of voice, she had been working on that. She was thankful he was silent, it gave her time to sort out if the desks were actually moving or not.

"........." Yeah, he's one of those talk your head of guys alright, she thought dryly. She shook her head as the room started moving more. It hadn't been this bad this morning, no one had even noticed she felt like just sleeping on the desk and hoping the groggy feeling would just pass.

This was annoying to watch, he decided. She was obviously having trouble keeping her voice steady never mind standing. He rolled his eyes before standing up, keeping his icy posture he walked up to her.

"What's wrong...?" She asked, confused. He said nothing, bending down next to her.

"Hey-" He easily scooped her up in his arms. "What are you doing?! Put me down!" She exclaimed, but too tired to struggle.

"....Where's your room?" He asked. Silence. He looked down, and flushed slightly. ....It really wasn't his fault the instructor uniform wasn't a turtleneck, and the fact he just happened to look down in the wrong area... but that was beside the point. The point was, that she was asleep.. or passed nicely with out hitting her head on her oak desk... OR faking it, but he didn't think she was faking it because it she was she probably would have smacked him for looking down her shirt.

Damn. Why did these things always happen to him? This would have been any Trepies' fantasy, but nooo he had to get stuck with his ..... not currently conscious instructor.

He had four options: a) hope her key-card just magically falls out of her uniform so he can drop her off at her dorm. b) Frisk her for her card and hope she doesn't wake up and smack him and/or report him. c) Leave her there and get out of a counselling session early or finally, d) Bring her to his dorm until she wakes up and kick her out... something along those lines. He decided on d because that was the only half rational option there was.

It was once he got out in the hallway he fleetingly remembered how awkward it would see a student carrying his unconscious instructor.

Luckily, the only thing he got was a total of 6 Trepies: one passed out from shock, one with what he was pretty sure a little voodoo doll of himself, two with what he was assuming her .... skirts. How they got those was beyond him. And the last two just plain gaping and/or in shock.

He shrugged. No one ever believed them anyways... after all, they were only just obsessed fans. Really, really obsessed, he thought over hearing one of them chant a curse on him. ...It didn't sound too nice.

Ignoring the looks (the stunned, the confused, the just plain.... odd, the envied and adored look.. but that was only from his fan girls) he made his way to his dorm. Not a fun task at all. What so ever.

Then there was opening the door. It was a little bit... difficult balancing dead weight in one hand and his knee and the other trying to swipe the key card. After just about dropping her three times, he finally opened the door.

Despite how she light she looked, she wasn't easy to carry down the hallway. Struggling not to trip over Raine (she had grown quite a bit during the last week and a half), he somewhat shuffled over to his small bed and put her down.

Taking off his glove, he felt her forehead. He frowned, she had a fever. Squall rolled his eyes, teachers had sick days for these kind of things. Getting up, he walked over and grabbed a little hand towel and ran it under cold water, then walked over and put it on her forehead, before starting on his homework... it's not like her was going to watch her or anything.... or so he told himself.

Her head hurt... no... actually it felt cold for some reason. ...Or rather wet. She froze, going over the worst case scenarios (she decided the worst would probably have to be being stuck in Trepies' bedroom...hey, if you had an obsessive fan club, you'd be paranoid too.)

Cautiously, she opened her eyes. A white ceiling stared back at her, no Trepies... yet. Slowly, she moved her eyes to the right, a normal dorm.. with a very familiar kitten. She knew where she was... "Squall...?" She asked softly, lazily reaching over and patting Raine on the head before trying to get up.

The room started to spin again, and she decided getting up wasn't one of her more brighter ideas. "You shouldn't be getting up." He said bluntly, getting up. "You've still got a fever."

He was looking after her...? She flushed slightly, chiding herself for acting like a giddy girl. He walked over to her with his calm, stoic posture, reached down and took the cloth.

"How long have I been here...?" She asked, watching him wet the cloth under the tap again.

"..... 6 hours." He said, turning back to her.

"6 hours?!" She repeated disbelievingly, trying again to get up.

Rolling his eyes he walked over in front of her and pushed down on to the bed (AN: No, not for ::those:: reasons) "You're going to get even more dizzy if you try to get up." He ordered.

"I have to get those papers marked-"

"You're sick. Stay in bed. End of discussion." He said coldly in the I-don't-give-a-damn-what-your-reason-is-shut-up-and-listen-to-me tone of voice, crossing his arms.

"I'm the instructor here. I don't have to take orders from you." She shot back, stubbornly.

"Fine. If you can get to the door, you're welcome to leave." Squall said, challenging her.

"Fine." She said, getting up. About halfway to the door, the room started spinning again. "Dammit." She muttered before falling, she didn't hit the ground though.

It seemed to be Squall's day for the whole knight-in-shining-armour thing, because he expected she was going to fall and caught her. She looked away trying to hide the slight blush that covered her face.

"You... win." The blonde said, as he lifted her up and placed her on the bed. "Where are you going to sleep...?" She asked, looking at the clock. It was 10:00pm.

"The couch." He muttered, moving over to the couch after turning the lights out.

"......Good night Squall." She whispered.

o o o

He was up before her. Groggily, she had woken up beside Raine. Getting up slowly, she walked beside him. It was 5:00am. He slowly turned to her, clearly flustered. He wasn't good at saying these sort of things.

She looked at him oddly. "I... Dammit." He muttered smoothing back his hair. Definitely not articulate either.

Looking at him expectedly, she patiently waited. "You know....." He started, fumbling with invisible words. (This could be a while...)

He sighed exasperated, he wasn't getting anywhere. "I...." Clearly frustrated, he just grabbed her and kissed her. Maybe that could get the point across, he pulled away. "I care." He muttered, before pausing. "... For you."

She didn't say anything, and he started to think that was a stupid idea. (Seriously, Leonheart? You expect her to ::like:: you after you told her she was game? Loser...) His inner conscious nagged. (Yet another one of your bright ideas... This is your cue to LEAVE)

Taking his conscious' advice, he turned for the door. He felt a hand on his arm, he turned around. She kissed him. He blinked, but returned it. "I know." She whispered before leaving.

For once, it was his turn to be breathless.

Um, hopefully you liked this chapter, but the story's not over for a long shot (at least I hope not... unless you guys are totally sick of my writing!)


	11. Black Mail!

Alright, people. First thing's first. I'm really sorry for not updating, I've been very busy with school... and I've had no bright ideas.. (I still don't). Secondly, I will not be updating as frequently as I used to (before this), because like I said, I've been very busy. Oh, oh, My goal for this story is 100 reviews... Is that a lot to ask? I'm really not sure.... Anyway, thanks for the reviews and support like always!

This chapter is kind of like a cliff-hanger, love triangle thingy. I don't like this chapter much, but this is the best I can come up with. Please be nice - don't flame!

GothicAngelEyeS: Um, I'm sorry! I fixed it though!

Eveee90:Aww. Thank you.

Shizuma the Black Angel Demon: Lol!

Lil-Battousai Girl: I' really sorry I didn't send this chapter to you but I wanted to finish before I got all my homework loaded on me again! I'm sorry! I promise I'll send the next chapter to you!

Neko-Yuff16: Yeah, but I never get kissed by hot guys when I get the cold... (Dammit)

Frost: Yeah, I realise it's pretty unlikely to go down a hallway without anyone seeing you, but the matter does come up this chapter.

JJMP: Maybe... Heh, no just joking he will.

AngelD: Yay! I updated, be proud of me!

Kris: Oh wow, you're review means so much to me. I'm blushing! But I think it would be an understatement to the greatest FF8 love story if this was it. If it helps any, I'm sure if I met you I'd have a crush on you.

Hotaru170: My computer broke too! It was broken for like, 2 weeks so you have my sympathy!

Dark Phoenix: Thanks!

She was confused. Utterly confused. In the span of two days (of sick leave despite the fact she had been feeling better) she had determined two things: he kissed her (a usual occurrence of late) and.... she kissed him.

...It still made her head hurt, the headache she had wasn't helping either. This wasn't how it was supposed to be, she was an instructor - not a lovesick idiot. She wasn't supposed to be the damsel in distress that had a bad fainting habit. No, she was an instructor - and a damn good one at that... who had just conveniently fallen for her student.

No, she refused to admit she had more than teacher's feelings for him. None, none what so ever, but her thoughts kept coming back to him. The blonde groaned, when had it come to this? Stupid counselling.... stupid, stupid counselling. However, she could get around this.. or so she told herself.

The 5 minute warning bell rang, waking her out of her thoughts. Students filed in along with the stoic walking Squall. She. Was. Not. Thinking. About. Him. ..... Never.

"As you all know, I was on sick leave for the past three days.... I hope you didn't terrorize the supply teacher too much." She could just see some poor, unfortunate supply teacher throwing down his/her papers in frustration; screaming at the students and then proceeding to run out of the room in a mad dash.

"I'm KNOW I'm speaking on behalf of your little groupies when I say I missed you, Instructor." Seifer piped up sarcastically from the back of the room. "Especially your nice legs!" He snipped.

She twitched.

The Trepies agreed enthusiastically.

She wanted her sick leave back. "Detention at 4." She said bluntly, continuing on. "You've got an exam on Thursday that's worth 50 of your mark. Don't forget." The class protested loudly.

Some tricks were just too much fun to pull. Thursday was a P.A day.

o o o

She eyed the clock, detention was supposed to start 15 minutes ago. However, according to previous detentions with her trouble student, 15 minutes was early, and 30 was late - if he didn't skip it all together.

It figures, one day she does counselling and the other (which is SUPPOSED to be her free time) is spent with Seifer. ....Life just wasn't fair.

Counselling, speaking of which... what to do about a certain dressed-in-leather-24/7 boy... At least if he was going to be late, it gave her time to think. He hadn't spoken to her the while day - not that she had expected him to, but... She found herself mildly annoyed, well, as annoyed as you could be despite the fact you told yourself you weren't... if that made any sense at all.

She heard a boots coming down the hall, she didn't bother looking up.

"Looks like I'm early." The blonde rolled her eyes, looking up at the taller blonde from her seat at the desk.

"If you call being 15 minutes late early then yes. Sit down." She shifted her position. He sat down.

"I'm here to review your grades. You're failing 4 out of 5 of your classes. The garden is considering expelling you if you don't get your grades up, Seifer." She looked up from the folder, and frowned. "Why are you grinning? This is a serious matter."

Seifer continued grinning, propping his boots onto her desk. "I know something you don't know, Instructor." He said, in a teasing voice.

She narrowed her eyes, reaching out and pushing his feet off the desk. "Do you want a tutor or not?" Quistis asked icily.

He leaned forward. "What exactly _were _you doing in Squall's dorm yesterday?" He smirked as she paled.

"You were probably dreaming. Besides, no one would believe you. Get back to your work." She said.

"But, Instructor," He said in mock sternness. "Pictures never lie." He held up a picture of her leaving his room in the morning, she suddenly felt very insecure.

"You're blackmailing me?" She asked in disbelief, staring at him trying not to gape. She always knew he was trouble but not like _this._

"Not blackmail... A proposition, my dear Instructor." She rolled her eyes. He leaned forward, "I'll pretend none of this ever happened if you," he paused, grinning like the Cheshire cat, pulling her foreword against him.

Outside, Squall backed away from the door with a pained expression on his face before leaving.

She slapped him and moved back to her own seat, prepared to scream at him. He cut her off, "I'll pretend this never happened if you agree to go on a date with me."

Quistis Trepe, always one to be elegant and proper -- fell off her chair in surprise.

Well that's this chapter! Please be nice! So, who's Quistis gonna be with Squall or Seifer? Your choice (I'm rooting for Squall, but hey, it's up to you!)


	12. Date

All right everyone, thank you so much for all the reviews. Now, here's two quick notes: 1) The number of Trepies in chapter 10 has been changed. 2) No more review notes. PS: Quiefer fans will like this chapter.

She couldn't believe this was happening. Not only was she getting black-mailed - she was getting black-mailed for a date...! ...This just wasn't her day, and him putting the Cheshire cat to shame with his grin wasn't helping. She had two choices 1) ignore him, and hope that she didn't get fired or 2) ....go on the date.

The blonde was weighing her options, while looking at the clock. 3:45.

Counselling was at four, she pushed her thoughts away of a certain brunette student and went back to the matter at hand. Neither were flattering. "Make up your mind your, Instructor?" Seifer mocked from his seat across from her.

Job. Never living the date down. Job. Never living the date. Job.... Damn.

She sighed. "This will never be mentioned to ANYONE." Quistis said, laying flat the rules bluntly.

He leaned back in his chair, grinning. "I knew you'd see it my way." He got up, flashing a smile at her. "I'll be pick you up at... 7pm." The arrogant blonde walked past her. only stopping to lean down to her height. "I'd go for a mini skirt." He whispered.

By the time she had registered what he said, he was too far out of range to hit. Hard.

3:50, she tapped her finger along the desk, trying to get her mind of her impending doom of a date by doing paper work.

4:10, she looked up from her paper work and stared at the look thoughtfully.

4:30. She knew he wasn't coming. Slowly, she got up from her desk, grabbed her paper work and left.

o o o

She knew he wouldn't be pleased with this. That was her plan after all. He'd just have to deal with his 'date' in her baggy jeans and a white top. If she had to go, she'd at least get a good time at seeing him fairly annoyed.

She was finishing the rest of her test marking (much to her glee, he had bombed the last test) when there was a prompt knock at the door. After grabbing her wallet, she opened the door hesitantly. "Seifer." She greeted coldly.

"Instructor," He muttered, looking over her outfit once... twice... three times and the finally the forth.

"I can't say I'm impressed but oh well. Maybe be you can slip into something more comfortable when we get back-" She cut him off with an icy glare almost rivalling Squall's.

"I sincerely hope you're joking considering the fact I'm the one who lets the headmaster know on behalf of the teachers if we want you shipped to Galbadia Garden."

He stayed quiet.

"Where are you taking me? It had better not be a bar..." She warned sternly.

He shook his head, leading her to his car. She stopped, paused and squinted at the car. Even if the parking lot was dark, she could still tell something about the car. "That's a school facility car." She said flatly, turning to him. "You must be joking."

"No joke." He said grinning, swinging the keys around his finger. He faced her, she was still glaring. "Fine. If you've got any better ideas, feel free to butt in anytime." He said sarcastically.

"How about we not go?" She said empathizing the 'not' clearly.

"But, Instructor," He starting clucking his tongue. "That would put an end to my little game." He finished in a mocking tone.

"Good." She said coldly, turning to leave.

"We won't take the car," He said suddenly. "but I'm still getting my date."

She turned around, grudgingly.

o o o

"This isn't what I would qualify as a date." She started dryly.

"Would you even have anything to compare this to?" He asked back sarcastically.

"I'll have you know -" The instructor started.

"This is my first date." Seifer said, turning to her.

"Are you mocking me?" She asked accusingly.

"No." He said quite seriously.

".........." She had to grudgingly admit, the view from the deck outside of her classroom was nice.

"So, Instructor," He mused, leaning back. "Tell me, anything else I would be liable to black mail you on?" She asked turning to her.

"Nothing. So don't even try." She said bluntly, watching the sky. "Why do you purposely fail your courses? You can do better than what you're getting."

"Maybe I keep failing to keep around you." He said grinning. She stared at him flatly.

"Ah, Instructor, Instructor. My bad image would do down the drain if I got 90's. Who'd want a school bully who got high scores?" She didn't reply to that.

"You should really let your hair down more often" He said quietly.

"I'm going to ignore that comment." Quistis said dryly.

"You really shouldn't." He said.

"I am." She chided herself for bickering like a child, turning away stubbornly.

That's when it happened.

He kissed her for about a few seconds and pulled away slowly. She promptly hit him.

"There. Now I can say I kissed the infamous Quistis Trepe." He said, grinning, rubbing his the side of his face which she had hit. Hard.

She was secretly freaking out. "Never. Do. That. Again." She finally managed to breathe, after her mental panic had subdued.

"So, Instructor; what am I getting in your course?" He asked, as she turned to leave.

"You're still getting 25." She said, inwardly smirking before turning around.

"Good night Seifer." She said promptly before leaving.

She opened the door quietly stepping back into the empty hallway. It was Thursday, she knew for a fact all the students had a 'secret' bar they all went to... which wasn't really secret because the teachers had busted them there quite a few times.

She saw a familiar figure in the hallway. "Squall?" She called. The figure moved from the wall as she walked closer. "Why weren't you there for counselling yesterday?"

He said nothing.

"Were you sick? I checked in with office, and they said you went all your classes..." She trailed off. "Why didn't you come, Squall? Was it something I did?" She was now, some what worried.

"You mean you on Seifer's lap?" He asked coldly. "Or sneaking off with him to the balcony?"

She paled. "Squall..... He black mailed me -"

"He black mailed you to kiss him, too?" He asked softly, she could see for about a split second when he let his mask down - he was hurt.

"HE kissed me." She pointed out, frantically trying to empathize the 'he' part. "He.....She trailed off - she wasn't getting anywhere.

"What ever." He said, turning away.

"Please believe me," She said softly, walking up to him.

"........."

"Fine." She said coldly. "It was just a game to you anyways, wasn't it?"

He stopped. She knew she hit a sensitive area.

"I'm starting to think that's all it might have been." He said icily, continuing to walk on. .... Even if he knew it wasn't true.


	13. Letters

Okay, first thing's first - this story will NOT become a Seiftis/Quifer (sorry for any spelling errors there), it is a Quall, I repeat; it is and will be a Quall.

She gazed lazily over the paper work, as lazily as Quistis Trepe could, that is. The past week had been an utter disaster, being black mailed, being 'found out', for lack of better words by Squall and then this.

Not that she should have been surprised, really, but.... She got her thoughts back on track and looked at the paper once more as if trying to figure out if it had an ulterior motive or something. However, the white slip of paper had none. The blonde frowned and placed the slip of paper under her pile of work, before turning back to grade essays.

Seifer, she thought somewhat amused, had been transferred to Trabia Garden for a term, in hopes that the good students there would rub off on him. From the report last received, he was currently being sentenced to washing dishes after an announcement fiasco had taken place.... The clock stuck 4:00, it was past time to leave, but there she was staring at her empty desk. She half hoped time would stop so she wouldn't have to go tomorrow, but it was just wishful thinking. Frowning, she gathered her things and left the empty room.

o o o

She sighed, this would defiantly be an awkward counselling session... if he were to show up, that is, she doubted he would skip the session though. The classroom was dead quiet as it was her spare period and everyone else was in class.

Quistis didn't bother looking up when she heard foot steps coming into the room just seconds after the bell signalled homecoming time. However, she couldn't put this off. She looked up from the paper work that cluttered her desk space, uncharacteristically scattered about her desk, when it was usually kept in a neat, orderly fashion.

She nearly forgot to breathe when she was the glare that seemed even icier than when it had been directed at Seifer, aimed in her direction. Off the bat, she knew she would be getting the cold shoulder, and/or the silent treatment.

Folding her hands on her desk, she took the initiative to talk, "I know you're mad," She said calmly, even though she knew that would most likely be the understatement of the year. He said nothing, but she could practically feel the tension in the air.

This was going absolutely no where. The blonde looked away, "I'm sorry." He gave her a look that practically spelt out: that's your excuse? "I was scared he was going to say something."

The tension was so thick if an unfortunate person had stumbled into the room - they would have walked _into_ it. This was extremely unnerving for Quistis Trepe. The only sound was the ticking of the clock, she let out a quiet sigh and turned back to her work.

He watched her silently, before turning to the window. This was one of the many times she wished the fire bell would ring or something and maybe save her from this. She felt like screaming, something to relieve this unusual amount of stress. This was something she had never felt before - stress, yes obviously to an extend - but not this much.

Stress, frustration, and yet some part of her was stupidly giddy. She wanted to grab the tests she was currently throwing and just throw them at him, and yell about the stupid games he was playing, but for good reasons, she refrained.

After about a whole month of working with him, she thought she was maybe getting somewhere - and then _this_. All the frustrating silent hours without talking and listening to the clock (which she thoroughly despised now), the kissing (okay, so maybe it was _that_ bad) and the smug remarks - wasn't paying off. At all. What so ever.

It seemed like the ticking of the clock had slowed down just to spite her, as she grudgingly marked the rest of the papers. Out of sheer boredom, after finishing her paper work of course, she watched the clock. Slowly -very slowly- the clock finally reached 4:00pm.

She watched as he approached the door, and sighed; before walking in front of him and blocking the exit. "It isn't..." She trailed off, taking a somewhat shaky breath. "It isn't a game to me."

He stared at her coldly, as if silently saying 'elaborate on this'. "I'm not toying with you - I'm not playing with your feelings. When I hurt you, I didn't mean to." Being a teacher and a counsellor was not helping her with this. All the training in the world couldn't help her with this. "I'm sorry." She said, quite sincerely.

If this was a soap opera on television, the viewers would be leaning forward in anticipation waiting for a response.

Silence. She just knew this was coming. Where ever Squall Leonheart went insults and/or silence followed, like a loyal puppy dog or something. This was both humiliating _and _unnerving

Alright, this was just plain stupid, she decided. This was getting no where. ...As usual. In her defence - she had tried to apologize one last time, but to no avail. The blonde watched as he turned to go, it something inside her just seemed to hurt so much as she watched him. She didn't want to loose him, it had just occurred to her. It wasn't that she didn't want to be alone - it was that she didn't want to be without him.

Now _why _she was feeling that, she didn't know. After all, he was rude, manipulative, cold ....had she mentioned cold? It drove her crazy, thinking about why she felt this way - about a student none the less. All this occurred in about a span of about 4 whopping seconds.

"Squall. Wait." She said, as he was about half-way out the door. "I forgot to give you something." He turned around, moving back inside the classroom. She walked slowly over to her desk, retrieving the slip of paper. She stared at it for a moment, simply, all it stated, that was Squall Leonheart was being transferred to Galbadia garden, by the Galbadia Garden's request. It was a high honour, to even be accepted after an audition and a written exam to get in, but without even trying out for it.... Quistis handed him the paper, carefully as if it were glass or a highly breakable material.

"This is," She paused a moment, before correcting herself. "_Was_, your class of counselling. I understand that you've been excepted to Galbadia Garden." She took a shaky breath, "Congratulations." She said, forcing a smile, even though she wanted to secretly, deep down, cry.

She turned to her desk, as she heard the door shut. The blonde let out a long sigh, and tried not to cry, it was stupid after all. He was just a student, so she had had him as a student before for about 2 years now, but that was not excuse for _this. _She was a grown woman - she could handle this.

....No, no she couldn't, she realized. All because of some stupid student, she was a love-sick high school girl. She was about to take a bee-line for her dorm before she started a) crying, b) screaming or c) both; when she heard paper ripping. Her first thought, was that she might have been sitting on a paper, and when she got up maybe it had started ripping, the second, was that she needed more sleep and the noise was just a sound of lack of sleep.

However, on both accounts, she was wrong. When, she looked, Squall was sitting there (looking quite smug) with the two halves of the acceptance letter.

She thought, for sure, she would faint. Out of millions of words in the English dictionary, the first six she came up with were: "What did you do that for?!" All she knew, is that she would _not_ be explaining this to Galbadia Garden.

"I declined." He said simply. In her mind, the chances of fainting were at approximately 75 within the next five minutes.

"Why?" She barely choked out. Any other student in the school would be running around like they had won the lottery, or kissing the person next to them for some absurd reason.

"I didn't want go."

The question popped up in her head, like it would a five year olds. "_Why_?" She repeated, dumbstruck.

She held back a smirk as he rolled his eyes, and pulled her close. "Because," He said quite seriously, "I think I'd miss you." Well, _that _was unexpected. Jeez, one minute he was mad as hell and the next he was telling her he'd miss her?!

"Excuse me?" She finally managed to utter, dumbstruck yet again.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

Dear god, she thought dryly. Someone must have spiked her tea in the staff room, because she couldn't have been sober while this was happening. Squall looked at his utterly confused teacher. Maybe it _would_ have been a good idea to take that transfer, he thought to himself.

"Did I hear you right?" She finally asked, raising an eyebrow. He glared at her. "I'm sorry but that was just very unexpected. I mean, you were mad at me, and-" Hell would soon freeze over - Quistis Trepe was rambling. "Now you're very understanding, I don't get it-" If someone had happened to listen in on this conversation, they probably thought they were either acting, or extremely drunk.

Squall, not being one to repeat anything even remotely sentimental, did the only thing he could think of at the moment - and kissed her. Not quite sure it she was more surprised or happy, she allowed herself to wrap her arms around him and pull herself closer until he pulled away.

He smirked leaning closer to he, "You've gotten a lot better at kissing in the last," He paused for a moment, "About 9 years." It took her a moment to get past just the way he was teasing her never mind actually comprehending what he said.

It was about a few seconds later it had registered. She flattened her eyes, "You.." She trailed off because any further words would be extremely impolite for a teacher to say inside a class room. The question that had been racking her brain for years, was now answered. Now that the whole who gave her her first kiss issue had been resolved .....

He was most defiantly a dead man now. Six feet under to be exact, once she would be done with him she decided, however, after looking at him, she decided to raise his life span by a few years - for now.

But, anyway, back to the insults - "You little -" He cut her off by kissing her again, taking her in his arms for a long well deserved (in her case, anyways) kiss.

"I was wrong." He said, bluntly. She raised an eyebrow curiously. "It isn't a game."

She stared at him blankly, mentally spelling out 'and....?' He glared at her and she sighed - one could only get so far in one day.

So he wasn't ready to confess his un-dying, everlasting love for her, she could deal with that. She still had two more months to go, after all, she thought pulling him down for another kiss.

Well, guys. I want to thank you all so much for being so supportive. I realise this isn't the greatest chapter ever, and I'm not sure if I want this to be the end or not - it's up to you. However for now, I have a little thank you present for everyone who reviewed (I was too lazy to post on my Live journal, sorry. Oh, I'm also sorry, I had planned to do it for the 100th review, but... it got postponed and yeah...) but here it is now!

http : photobucket . com / albums / v468 / DarkElf1 / ? action view¤t; thanksv2 . bmp

(With no spaces) Yes, it's pink and it has a prissy looking Squall, I did it at like 3am in the morning, it sucks, I know. Goodnight, I'm going to bed since it's like 4 in the morning.

By the way: Thank you SO much lil-Battousai Girl for being my beta reader, surprise! this chapter is dedicated to you and all the other people who read this story. (Also known as my oh-my-God-I-am-so-sorry-I-didn't-send-it-to-you-but-if-I-didn't-send-it-now-I-would-totally-foget-and-it-wouldn't-get-posted-because-I-have-exams-coming-up-excuse!)

Also, notes. **I'll be Waiting, will be redone in January sometime all the chapter will be deleted except for the first one and the story will be redone from there. My Truth, Your Lies, will be redone. Blue Magic, will hopefully have a 2nd (longer) version before the next year is over. Thanks to everyone, have a happy new year!!**


End file.
